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th lestirgnus.
THE COLLEGE PAPER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY AND
ITS STUDENTS.
VOL. 10. BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 190. NO. 3
Topography as a Factor in History
When one studies carefully the his-tory
of different countries, he readily
sees the vast differences that exist in
the manners and customs of the people.
He, also, must notice the different
forms of government used by differ-ent
people and the influence which one
nation exerts on another and on the
world at large. If one is a careful stu-dent,
he will attempt to find out why
such differences exist. Probably the
differences are due to two things; first
the race of people inhabiting the coun-try,
and secondly, the nature of the
country itself.
It is not my purpose to speak of the
former. It is not my purpose to point
out which exerts the wider influence.
I simply wish to show that people and
their history, which is only a record
of their deeds, are effected by the na-ture
of the country in which they live.
It' must be acknowledged that phy-sical
agencies exert a wide influence
over all organic forms. Plants and an-imals
must accommodate themselves
to their surroundings; and if they
can't do this, they cannot survive.
Even man with all his boasted will
power is no exception; but is domin-ated
to a large extent by physical
forces. The same law, which governs
the organisms of the plants and lower
animals, is applicable to man.
The nomadic tribe is largely a re-sult
of the shadeless desert, That
they are wanderers, is not due so much
to their own nature as to the nature of
the country they inhabit. Let the
same people settle on a fertile plain,
and they will soon become a nation
of soil-tillers. The sustenance which
they seek can be obtained with-out
migration, hence this characteristic
trait is lost. With possession of land
will immediately come new customs
and new laws.
The mountaineer has little in cornm-mon
with those people living on the
plain. His is rather an isolated life.
The lack of association and union
with his fellow man is not so much
due to his nature as to the nature of
the land he inhabits, for man is by
nature social. Travel, here, being dif-ficult
and in places almost impossible,
he associates with his fellowman very
little; and being removed from the civ-ilizing
influences of the world, he has
but little culture, he is narrow in his
views and often bigoted. Being un-progressive,
laws and customs change
but little from generation to genera-tion.
On the other hand, the daring
life which he must lead, the hard-ships
which he must suffer, the toils
which he must undergo to gain a live-lihood
have made him hardy, daring,
brave and warlike.
Having seen the effects of mountains
on people; let us next pass to the sea.
The sea promotes many different clas-ses-
merchants, traders, shipowners,
seamen, and artificers. These several
callings quicken their intelligence
and increase their wealth. Intercourse
with foreign nations, enlarges their
knowledge and widens their range of
thought. Being associated with their
fellowmen, a spirit of brotherhood
springs up among them. They ex-
Change products and also laws and
customs; and from this, comes an ad-vance
in society, and the condition of
the people is bettered.
Having made some general state-ments,
we are ready to take some na-tions
and tribes, and show that these
physical forces, of which we have been
speaking, have played a prominent
part in their history.
Let us see how Europe has been ef-fected
by the topography of Western
Asia. Europe is easily accessible from
Asia; and on account of this, time and
time again has it felt the effects of
these vast migrations to which Wes-tern
Asia is subject. These vast hordes
have poured into Europe driving the
people in front of them. When the
Goths applied to the Romans for ad-mission,
they were seeking protection
from the hideous and barbarous Huns
who formerly inhabited Western Asia.
The Turks who are also a branch of
this race, later excited great commo-tion
in Christian Europe.Their capture
of many holy places in Palestine, and
their advance toward the Bosphorus
so alarmed the people of Western Eur-ope
that they mustered a vast army of
Crusaders to check their advance.
The next shock which Europe receiv-ed
from Western Asia was at the close
of the fourteenth century when the
Turks were threatening to capture
Constantinople. The French, Germ-an,
and Austrian troops combined
their forces against invaders; but
they suffered a disastrous defeat at the
hands of Bajazet, the leader of the
warlike Turks. Europe now seemed
to lie at the feet of this barbai'ous
chief who had sworn to stable his
horse in the Cathedral of St. Peter;
but, before proceeding, he turned back
to capture Constantinople which he
believed would offer little resistance
owing to the degenerate state of affairs
It happened that just at this time
Western Asia was in a state of unrest.
Tamerlane, the successor of Genghis
Khan, was leading his Mongol hordes
on to the Conquest. Having over-run
many of the Turkish provinces, Ba-jazet
was forced to cross the Bosphor-us
and meet him. The barbarous
hordes, both deadly enemies of Chris-tian
civilization, met on the plains of
Ancora; and the Turks suffered disas-trous
defeat. Although the "City of
Constantine" fell fifty years later, yet
Ottoman power was checked and Wes-tern
Europe was saved from ravage
and plunder.
bet us attempt to account for these
great unrests. Western Asia is partly
a desert and subject to great extremes.

The Argus, Illinois Wesleyan University; printed by The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL from 1894-2009 and P&P Press, Peoria, IL from 2009-present.

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th lestirgnus.
THE COLLEGE PAPER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY AND
ITS STUDENTS.
VOL. 10. BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 190. NO. 3
Topography as a Factor in History
When one studies carefully the his-tory
of different countries, he readily
sees the vast differences that exist in
the manners and customs of the people.
He, also, must notice the different
forms of government used by differ-ent
people and the influence which one
nation exerts on another and on the
world at large. If one is a careful stu-dent,
he will attempt to find out why
such differences exist. Probably the
differences are due to two things; first
the race of people inhabiting the coun-try,
and secondly, the nature of the
country itself.
It is not my purpose to speak of the
former. It is not my purpose to point
out which exerts the wider influence.
I simply wish to show that people and
their history, which is only a record
of their deeds, are effected by the na-ture
of the country in which they live.
It' must be acknowledged that phy-sical
agencies exert a wide influence
over all organic forms. Plants and an-imals
must accommodate themselves
to their surroundings; and if they
can't do this, they cannot survive.
Even man with all his boasted will
power is no exception; but is domin-ated
to a large extent by physical
forces. The same law, which governs
the organisms of the plants and lower
animals, is applicable to man.
The nomadic tribe is largely a re-sult
of the shadeless desert, That
they are wanderers, is not due so much
to their own nature as to the nature of
the country they inhabit. Let the
same people settle on a fertile plain,
and they will soon become a nation
of soil-tillers. The sustenance which
they seek can be obtained with-out
migration, hence this characteristic
trait is lost. With possession of land
will immediately come new customs
and new laws.
The mountaineer has little in cornm-mon
with those people living on the
plain. His is rather an isolated life.
The lack of association and union
with his fellow man is not so much
due to his nature as to the nature of
the land he inhabits, for man is by
nature social. Travel, here, being dif-ficult
and in places almost impossible,
he associates with his fellowman very
little; and being removed from the civ-ilizing
influences of the world, he has
but little culture, he is narrow in his
views and often bigoted. Being un-progressive,
laws and customs change
but little from generation to genera-tion.
On the other hand, the daring
life which he must lead, the hard-ships
which he must suffer, the toils
which he must undergo to gain a live-lihood
have made him hardy, daring,
brave and warlike.
Having seen the effects of mountains
on people; let us next pass to the sea.
The sea promotes many different clas-ses-
merchants, traders, shipowners,
seamen, and artificers. These several
callings quicken their intelligence
and increase their wealth. Intercourse
with foreign nations, enlarges their
knowledge and widens their range of
thought. Being associated with their
fellowmen, a spirit of brotherhood
springs up among them. They ex-
Change products and also laws and
customs; and from this, comes an ad-vance
in society, and the condition of
the people is bettered.
Having made some general state-ments,
we are ready to take some na-tions
and tribes, and show that these
physical forces, of which we have been
speaking, have played a prominent
part in their history.
Let us see how Europe has been ef-fected
by the topography of Western
Asia. Europe is easily accessible from
Asia; and on account of this, time and
time again has it felt the effects of
these vast migrations to which Wes-tern
Asia is subject. These vast hordes
have poured into Europe driving the
people in front of them. When the
Goths applied to the Romans for ad-mission,
they were seeking protection
from the hideous and barbarous Huns
who formerly inhabited Western Asia.
The Turks who are also a branch of
this race, later excited great commo-tion
in Christian Europe.Their capture
of many holy places in Palestine, and
their advance toward the Bosphorus
so alarmed the people of Western Eur-ope
that they mustered a vast army of
Crusaders to check their advance.
The next shock which Europe receiv-ed
from Western Asia was at the close
of the fourteenth century when the
Turks were threatening to capture
Constantinople. The French, Germ-an,
and Austrian troops combined
their forces against invaders; but
they suffered a disastrous defeat at the
hands of Bajazet, the leader of the
warlike Turks. Europe now seemed
to lie at the feet of this barbai'ous
chief who had sworn to stable his
horse in the Cathedral of St. Peter;
but, before proceeding, he turned back
to capture Constantinople which he
believed would offer little resistance
owing to the degenerate state of affairs
It happened that just at this time
Western Asia was in a state of unrest.
Tamerlane, the successor of Genghis
Khan, was leading his Mongol hordes
on to the Conquest. Having over-run
many of the Turkish provinces, Ba-jazet
was forced to cross the Bosphor-us
and meet him. The barbarous
hordes, both deadly enemies of Chris-tian
civilization, met on the plains of
Ancora; and the Turks suffered disas-trous
defeat. Although the "City of
Constantine" fell fifty years later, yet
Ottoman power was checked and Wes-tern
Europe was saved from ravage
and plunder.
bet us attempt to account for these
great unrests. Western Asia is partly
a desert and subject to great extremes.